JUKEBOX | BOB MARLEY | NO WOMAN NO CRY (Live 1979)

— J u k e b o x —BOB MARLEYN O W O M A N
N O C R YTHE AMANDLA FESTIVAL OF UNITY
was a World Music Festival held in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 21, 1979.
Bob Marley & The Wailersplayed during the afternoon as the promoters feared a powerful performance could spark a riot.

The festival was held in an effort to support and celebrate the liberation of South Africa and the on-going efforts of people in Boston to address racism in their families, schools, workplaces and communities. July 21, 1979 is hot and muggy. The air is heavy and thick as 15,000 festival goers enter Harvard Stadium right after noon.

The large stage is set up at the 30-yard line just inside of the mouth of the horseshoe-shaped stadium. Most, if not all, of the attendees are there to see the headlining act: Bob Marley and the Wailers. Fresh out of the studio from the Survival recording sessions, Marley and his band of ‘Wailing Wailers’ are going to “chant down Babylon” and set everything right.

Miller described the scene as the gates opened to the field and thousands of fans charged the stage: “When the gates opened, it was like a stampede. The audience all ran from the entrances toward the stage but luckily it was fairly high up so they could not climb on it. It was a great show.”

Marley makes several short speeches during his encore when he powerfully blames the system and urgently claims Africa’s unity and freedom. “Free Africa now cuz Africa nah free!” he shouts with defiance. The onstage speeches are unusual for Marley, as he normally is threatened with censorship for speaking openly about many social issues like apartheid and marijuana.

The show goes on and Marley delivers one of the greatest live performances of his career. Garofalo recalls Marley’s brilliance:

“The performance was just magic. People in Boston come up to me even today and tell me that witnessing that performance was life-changing for them. This is not a joke. It was just magical. The people around him knew it, and we knew it.”

“Said – said – said I remember when we used to sit In the government yard in Trenchtown, yeah! And then Georgie would make the fire lights, I seh, logwood burnin’ through the nights, yeah! Then we would cook cornmeal porridge, say, Of which I’ll share with you, yeah! My feet is my only carriage And so I’ve got to push on through. Oh, while I’m gone, Everything’s gonna be all right!”